U.S. Energy Department Announces $275 Million to Strengthen Clean Energy Supply Chains

The U.S. Energy Department on Nov. 27 announced $275 million in grant selections for seven projects to strengthen clean energy supply chains and revitalize communities impacted by coal mine or coal power plant closures. The projects will leverage over $600 million in private sector investments in small- and medium-sized manufacturers and create nearly 1,500 jobs. The portfolio of projects will address critical supply chain vulnerabilities of the energy sector by supporting essential materials and components for energy storage applications, wind energy, and energy efficiency for buildings.

The announcement is part of the launch of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience. At the council’s inaugural meeting, the administration announced 30 actions to strengthen U.S. supply chains. To plan for long-term industrial resilience and supply chain investments, the council will conduct its first quadrennial supply chain review, which will be completed by the end of next year. The council will update criteria on industries, sectors, and products that are designated as critical to national and economic security. A year after promulgating the criteria, the council will conduct an annual review of the criteria and update the list as needed.

DOE is supporting a study by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to create a national plan for smart manufacturing, establishing priorities for investment to further new digital and artificial intelligence technologies. This is expected to boost the productivity and security of manufacturing systems considered critical to maintain domestic supply chains. For consistent tracking of risk and opportunity across energy supply chains, DOE is in the process of creating a tool that accounts for raw materials, manufacturing, workforce, and logistics considerations.

Among the initiatives, the administration has developed several cross-government partnerships to enhance supply chain monitoring and strategy, including the Commerce Department’s first-of-its-kind Supply Chain Center that integrates industry expertise and data analytics to develop novel supply chain risk assessment tools. The center is coordinating analyses on select critical supply chains to implement targeted actions that boost resilience and partnerships across government, industry, and academia, including DOE to conduct “deep-dive analyses on clean energy supply.”